Loved
by T.G. Lollipop
Summary: Kasami Ryuu sees something special in Garra that no one else does. But his cold, hard nature is making it difficult for her to find out what. Can she push past his defenses and help him tame the beast within him?
1. Monster

**This is my first Naruto fan fiction so if you could review after you read the chapter I would really appreciate it. Thanks. Also, this story is told from more than one point of view, so I'll be sure to let you know when it switches.**

**Kasami's POV, age 6**

I sat on the floor in our temporary apartment in the Hidden Sand Village. My sister Naomi, had business to attend to. That's all she had told me before leaving me here on my own. We had just arrived in the village yesterday and though I should have been tired from the long trek from our home in the Hidden Leaf Village, I was eager to go out and explore.

"We can look around when I get back." Naomi had promised but I had no idea when she would be returning. I grab my bag and rummage inside until I find a small box and a sketch pad. I open the box and pull out several small jars of paints, lining them up neatly in front of me. Taking a brush in my hand, I stare at a blank sheet in the pad, trying to think of something to paint.

I was quite a good painter even for someone so young. It wasn't my favorite thing to do but I still liked it. I thought for a while but could not think of anything to paint so I looked around the apartment for inspiration. I found a small pot and planted myself in front of it. It wasn't hard to paint at all and in no time I was finished. I tore the page out of the sketch book and stepped outside to hang it up to dry.

It was hot here. But then I was in a desert. I went to clip the painting onto a clothes line that hung nearby, but realizing that I couldn't reach, went back inside to fetch a chair to stand on. When I was satisfied that the painting would not be blown down, I gazed around, taking in the scenery. Our apartment was near the center of the village and right across the makeshift road was a park.

There were kids there, laughing and kicking a ball around. It seemed like fun and I wanted to join them but I knew I couldn't. Instead I ran back inside and grabbed my painting supplies. Setting up the chair so I could sit facing the park, I started to paint the kids. It was difficult since they were running around, but I managed to create a reasonable image. As I was about to hang the second painting on the clothes line, I noticed a little boy, my age, that was sitting alone on the swing set. He had spiky hair that was a deep red color and seemed to be really upset. I thought he might be crying but I was too far away to see.

A strange feeling crept up my spine as I gazed at him. I felt like running back into the house and barring the doors and windows, but I also felt the need to run to him and hug him. I wasn't sure why, but I decided on the latter. I was about to step into the street when I heard Naomi's voice.

"Kasami, you shouldn't be outside, you might get hurt."

She stormed over to me and grabbed my hand, dragging me back to the door.

"I know Naomi I was just painting. Besides, you said that we could look around when you got back."

She sighed. "I know, but I have too much paperwork to do. Maybe tomorrow ok?"

I could feel my lips forming a pout. But an idea popped into my head, "Can I just go over to the park then? I promise not to do anything to difficult. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." I continued until she threw her arms up, exasperated. "Fine, but don't blame me when you break a leg." I bounced up and down on my toes, not wanting to cause to much stress on my legs by jumping for joy, and clapped my hands softly. As I headed across the street Naomi called out to me, "Come back in an hour."

"OK." I shouted back to her and strode purposefully over to the boy on the swing. The other children noticed me and one of them stepped into my path. "Hey, you shouldn't go near him. My dad says he's dangerous; that he's some kind of monster."

I just rolled my eyes at him. "He's just a boy and your father doesn't seem very nice." I push past him and he makes no more effort to stop me, though he and the rest of the children kept their gazes on me as I approached the boy on the swing set. He glanced up at me as I approached then quickly looked back down, but not before I had noticed a wave of emotions; surprise, caution, and fear. Seeing these only made me more determined to speak to him thought the urge to run was still present. I stopped in front of him.

"Hi."

He didn't reply.

"What's your name?"

He lifted his head to look at me, confusion, distorting his features, "Why do you care?"

I felt a look of confusion cross my face as well, "Just curious. Are you going to tell me?"

"Gaara."

I grinned triumphantly. "It's nice to meet you Gaara. I'm Kasami."

"That's a pretty name."

I blushed slightly, "Thank you. Why are you swinging by yourself?"

"No one wants to play with me."

"Why not"

"Because I'm a monster and no one loves me."

My expression switched back to curious.

"You aren't a monster, you're a boy. Just like those boys playing over there.

"Everyone thinks I'm dangerous."

I crossed my arms over my chest, frustrated. "I don't think that."

His eyes widened with surprise and he just stared at me so I continued.

"And what makes you think that you aren't loved? I'm sure your parents love you. Right?"

He thought for a minute, "My uncle might."

"Well that's a start."

I sat on the swing next to him, aware of the other children still staring at me with frightened looks. I stuck my tongue out at them and they slowly resumed their game.

"Well Gaara, if they won't play with you then I will." Once again he only stared. "What do you like to play?" I asked him. He shrugged.

I thought for a moment before an idea came to me. "Be right back." I darted back towards the apartment and pushed the door open. Naomi was sitting at the desk with numerous scrolls laid out before her. She looked up when I entered. "Back already Kasami?"

I shook my head, "Just grabbing my paints. I'll be back soon though." She nodded and resumed her work as I grabbed my supplies and went back to Gaara.

When I reached him, I laid the paints out on the ground and summoned him over. He knelt beside me and I tore a sheet out of the sketch pad for him. "Have you ever painted before?" He shook his head slowly and I grinned. "I'll teach you then."

Over the next hour, we sat and painted houses, and people and all sorts of other things. Gaara was frustrated at first because his paintings weren't as good as mine, but when I explained that it wasn't about how the painting looked, he began to relax and I think he even enjoyed himself.

I felt a presence over me and turned to see Naomi, striding over to us. Looking around, it dawned on me that it was getting dark. "Kasami, you were supposed to be back over an hour ago." I lowered my head and stared at the ground. "I know Naomi. I'm sorry. We were having fun and I lost track of time."

Naomi glanced at the boy next to me. "You're Gaara right? The Kazekage's son?" He nodded. "Well it's nice to finally meet you. Thank you for playing with Kasami but she needs to come home now."

I gathered up the paints and brushes then faced Gaara. "Will you be here tomorrow?" He simply shrugged so I told him that I would be here and that if he wanted to play again, he could come. Naomi led me back to the apartment door, but just before I stepped inside, I glanced back to see him hanging his head sadly and walking away.

Naomi made dinner for me and when I had finished, she tucked me into bed. "Kasami, I won't jump to conclusions like everyone else in this village. I know that Gaara probably doesn't want to hurt anyone. But just be careful around him, ok?"

When I asked her why she reminded me of Naruto. "This boy is kind of like him. They are both lonely they just have different ways of coping. They have monsters inside them, beasts that if let loose, would hurt a lot of innocent people. I don't want you to get hurt Kasami, but I won't force you to stay away from him. That wouldn't be fair to either of you."

I didn't quite hear all of the last part as I drifted off to sleep, but I knew that Naomi wouldn't warn me if she had no real reason to. I'd be careful around Gaara, but I'd still be his friend.

Over the next few days, Naomi would go off in the mornings to do whatever work had to be done and I would meet Gaara at the park. Naomi had purchased a ball for us to play with and on this particular day, I was kicking it between my feet, waiting for Gaara to arrive. I waited for an hour and was about to head back in when he appeared. I ran up to him, "Gaara where have you been, I've been waiting for you, Naomi bought us a ball so we…"

I noticed the wetness under his eyes, "Gaara, why are you crying?"

"Because there really isn't anyone who loves me."

I huffed and crossed my arms, "This again? I thought you said your uncle loves you."

He shook his head but said nothing more.

"Well I'm your friend and I love you."

Shock registered on his face, but it slowly melted into disbelief then he glared at me.

"No you don't. You're lying! I don't have any friends."

I glared right back at him, then grabbed his hand and dragged him over to when I'd left the paints and the ball. Grabbing the red paint, I dipped a finger in and began to write on his forehead. After a minute I pulled away, satisfied with my work. The word "Love" was now clearly printed on his face. "There, see? I gave my love to you Gaara. You can carry it around wherever you go now."

His features once again took on a look of shock. "Why would you do that?"

"Because you're my friend Gaara and I care about you. Don't you ever forget that ok. Even when I leave."

"You're leaving?"

"My sister has finished her mission and we need to head back to our village."

A look of such intense sadness crossed his face and I wished that we could stay a little longer. I touched his shoulder lightly, "Promise you won't forget Gaara?"

He promised that he wouldn't and our day went on as usual. When it was time for me to go, I wrapped my arms around Gaara and hugged him. At first he wasn't sure how to react but after a moment, he returned the gesture. I collected my things then, after a moment, handed him the painting supplies. "You keep these. I can get more." As I gazed at him, I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes. "Bye Gaara. I hope we meet again."

He was silent and I gave him a small smile and turned to head back to the apartment. I wasn't sure I it was my imagination or not but as I walked away, I thought I heard him speak.

"I hope so too."

Naomi and I left early the next morning. I had kind of hoped that Gaara would show up to see me off, but he didn't. As we made our way out into the desert, I wished that someday I would see my friend again.

**Chapter 1 COMPLETE! If you could review that would be awesome. THANKS!**


	2. Broken Dragon

**So the main purpose of this chapter is to give you some more info on Kasami because she is my own creation and not a character from the anime. The real chapter 2 will come soon so hold on until then.**

**Thanks. **

**Kasami POV age 12**

I sat in the back of the class, watching as one by one, the students stood up and preformed the transformation jutsu. Most people choose to turn into Iruka Sensei but some decided on other people like the hokage or one of the other teachers. Everyone was doing a reasonable job, with small mistakes here and there… until Naruto went.

Naruto, the boy everyone except me stays away from. Naruto who is so different but at the same time so similar to the little red haired boy I met six years ago. I had forgotten a lot about him, not that I knew much in the first place, but as I had promised, I hadn't forgotten HIM. I remembered his hair, a fiery red, and his eyes had been blue. But what was most clear in my memory was the word I had painted on his head, "Love". As Naruto took his place at the front of the room, I absently wondered if the boy, Gaara, had made any more friends.

Naruto's eyes were squeezed shut and he was concentrating hard as he formed the proper hand signs. I could almost see the chakra flowing around him. A puff of smoke billowed out around him, covering him completely. As we waited for it to disappear, I silently wished him luck. He was always made fun of for his lack of skill and performing the jutsu perfectly would show the rest of the class that he wasn't as weak as they made him out to be. My wish didn't help. When the smoke was gone, there stood a very short version of our Hokage.

For what seemed like an eternity, the room was quiet. Then all at once, everyone except Sensei, Sauske, Naruto and I erupted into uncontrollable laughter. Scowling, Naruto transformed back into himself and stomped back to his seat. I sighed as Iruka Sensei tried to quiet the class. When the laughter had died down to just a few giggles, Sensei looked at his clipboard for the next name.

"Kasami Ryuu."

I rose and made my way to the front of the classroom. All eyes were on me as I sped through the hand signs and transformed into a perfect replica of my sister.

Naomi Ryuu is well known and greatly respected in our village. Her lightning style is something to be feared. Our clan, the Ryuu clan, specializes in lightning style jutsu. We are also known for our close bonds with the nearly extinct dragons. My sister and I are the only remaining members of our clan and everyone in the village had hoped that we would become powerful weapons. Naomi met their expectations. I however, never would.

I had been born very sick and weak. Naomi had told me that even the best healers were unable to fix me and they were sure that I wasn't going to live very long. My bones are brittle and I am very easy to break. In fact, I broke my legs multiple times when I was just learning to walk. For the first few years of my life, I was kept inside and guarded 24/7. My parents didn't want to risk losing me. But they had been killed in an accident when I was four. Naomi wanted to protect me as well but she realized that as I got older, it wouldn't be so easy to keep me hidden away. When I was five, she let me come out on the front porch. I wasn't allowed to go any further then that but once I stepped outside, I couldn't get enough fresh air. I would sneak outside often and Naomi would always be worried sick but I was too little to care. So in order to satisfy me, she started taking me on walks around the village. I was smart for a five year old and I kept convincing her to take me farther and farther away from the house. When I was six, I even convinced her to take me with her on a mission to the Hidden Sand Village.

I had the hardest time convincing her to let me go to school when I was old enough. She was afraid of how I would do with the Taijutsu portion of training. Her concern was justified. On the first day, I ended up braking both of my arms, a leg and several ribs. Luckily my spine remained intact as did my skull but I was in the hospital for a while.

When I returned to school, I found out that Naomi had asked that I not be required to participate in Taijutsu training. However in exchange, I would not be allowed to graduate into a Genin.

I excelled in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu but no matter how good I was, I couldn't be a proper ninja without Taijutsu. Even Lee, thought he had no Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, was able to hold his own with just his Taijutsu. If an enemy got to close to me, I was dead. Simple as that.

When the last few students finished their transformations, we all went outside and Sensei paired us up for fights. Sauske was chosen to go twice since I was not able to participate. I went over and sat down by the fence that separated the school yard from the surrounding forest. Naruto sat next to me.

"Hey Kasami. Do you think you can help me learn how to transform correctly? I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

I grinned at him. "I'm not a very good teacher, but I could try. I'll come to your place later. I'll be sure to bring you some real food too."

He crinkled his nose and turned away. "Thanks but I like my ramen."

I roll my eyes. "You can't survive only on ramen. That's not healthy."

"I've been surviving on it for a while now."

"Doesn't make it any healthier."

Iruka Sense had finished pairing the students and called out the first match.

"Naruto vs Shino."

The orange ninja in training jumped up and dusted the dirt of his pants.

"That's me. I'll see you later Kasami."

I waved to him and he jogged over to where his opponent was waiting.

Hinata approached me next.

"Hinata, have you confessed to Naruto yet?" I called to her, though not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

She flushed a bright pink and stared down at her shoes.

"I…well…I… haven't"

I giggle, "Come sit down, I'm just teasing you. Though you should let him know. I can see how much it hurts you when he flirts with Sakura."

She didn't say anything, but accepted my invitation to sit. I nudged her shoulder and when she looked at me, I smiled warmly. She returned with a small smile of her own and a comfortable silence hung over us as we turned out attention to the first fight.

It didn't last long. Naruto had a habit of diving right into a fight without thinking and Shino took advantage of that. Within minutes, He had Naruto pinned.

As the second pair began, Sakura and Ino joined Hinata and me.

"No one can beat Sauske. It's just not possible." Ino was saying. Sakura was nodding her head in agreement.

I greeted them and they sat down.

"The next fight is Shikamaru and Choji. Who do you think will win Kasami?

I shook my head slowly. "Neither. Choji wouldn't fight Shikamaru and if Choji refuses to fight then Shikamaru will as well."

"But that wouldn't be very interesting at all."

"Who said they care about making things interesting?"

I was correct. Both combatants refused to fight and Iruka Sensei was forced to call it a draw.

The rest of the battles went quickly enough and soon it was time to go. I walked to Hinata's home with her and after I bid her goodbye, I headed to my house. Naomi was out, as usual. She had been very busy lately with all of her missions. I went to my room and pulled out some paints. Over the next hour I painted an image of a little red haired boy sitting on a swing. The picture seemed off but I couldn't figure out why so I shrugged, and put my paints away. Leaving the house, I went to the market to pick up some vegetables and milk for Naruto. Knowing him, the milk he has is probably spoiled. When I made my purchases, I found my way to his place. He turned his nose up at the vegetables but I told him that if he didn't try some I would never help him train ever again. He reluctantly agreed and my afternoon was spent instructing him on how to properly transform into a different person.

When I returned home later that night, the painting I had done was sitting on my dresser. I stared at it for a moment, trying to figure out what it was that was so wrong about it. After a minute it hit me. I grabbed my paints back out and went to work fixing it. When it was finished, I proudly placed it back on my dresser to dry again.

It was a painting of a little red haired boy sitting on a swing. Next to him a little brown haired girl stood, holding a ball in one hand, and holding one of his hands in the other.

**So now you know a little more about Kasami. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.**


	3. The Chunin Exams, Part 1: Seven years

**Chapter 3! The Chunin exams are beginning and Kasami and Gaara are reunited after seven long years. How will things go?**

**Kasami POV Age 13**

It had been almost a year since I got out of the academy. I had been dropped from the training program because it wasn't possible for me to become an efficient ninja and there was no point in continuing to learn the basic Ninjutsu techniques since I had already mastered them. It made me angry that no matter how talented I was I would never even be a Genin. Still, there was nothing I could do.

I sat on my roof, looking out over the village. Hinata sat beside me. It was early in the morning and not many people were out yet. It was peaceful. I enjoyed the silence for a minute before turning to my friend.

"Hinata, you said that you wanted to talk to me about something. What is it?"

She didn't reply. Looking down, she began pulling at the hem of her jacket nervously. After all of the years we had been friends, she was still shy around me, though not as much as everyone else. After all, she had admitted to me that she liked Naruto.

"Is it the exams?" I prodded.

She inclined her head slightly.

I sighed. "You shouldn't be worried. You're strong, even if you don't realize it. I think that you'll learn a lot about yourself while going through these tests. Just wait and see."

She gave me a small smile but I knew she wasn't convinced. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders in sort of a half hug.

"Don't worry. You'll do great. Just remember that I'll be cheering you on."

She nodded again, her smile growing. "Thanks Kasami."

We sat together until the rest of the village woke. All of the Shinobi were busy preparing for the Chunin Exams. Genin from various villages would be arriving over the next few days to participate. Nine of our own Genin, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sauske, Choji, Ino, Shikamaru, Shino, and Kiba, were also taking part. They had been the nine students chosen to graduate from the academy and now they were fighting to make their way up the ranks. There were other Leaf Genin in the exams but I didn't know them personally.

Hinata had to go train so I waved goodbye and carefully dropped down from the roof and went inside. I found Naomi in her room, working as usual. She hadn't been sleeping much lately, though she probably didn't know that I had noticed. I crept up behind her and tapped her shoulder. She jumped and I gave her a disapproving look.

"Naomi, you need to rest."

"I can't now" She argued, "I need to report to the main gate. The shinobi taking part in the exams start arriving today and I'm part of the security team. I need to make sure everything goes smoothly."

She stood and tried to brush past me but I caught her arm.

"You won't be very affective if you are nodding off on the job. There are plenty of other people to keep the peace. You can afford a few hours of rest."

I began to push her toward the bed and she didn't resist. She plopped down and I tucked the covers in around her. It reminded me of the many times she had done the same for me.

She grinned sleepily at me and I couldn't help but smile back. "Go to sleep now Naomi. I'll go to the gate and let them know."

I turned to leave but her hand shot out from underneath the covers and held me back. "Thanks Kasami. It's funny; you're the one taking care of me now." She paused, seemingly lost in thought. I peeled her hand away and placed it gently back on the bed before moving toward the door again. Just as I was about to close it behind me, she called out to me.

"You're a good person Kasami. You know that right?"

"Of course I am. You raised me. Now let me take care of things for a little while. I owe you that much."

"You don't owe me anything."

"Sleep well Naomi."

With that I pulled the door closed and left the house. We didn't live far from the main gate so it only took me a few minutes to get there. The first few groups of Genin and their instructors were just arriving. I informed the Jounin in charge of Naomi's condition. He wasn't pleased but he knew it couldn't be helped. I climbed up onto a nearby building to watch the new arrivals.

Groups of all ages passed through the gates and into the village. I recognized most of the symbols on their forehead protectors. There were shinobi from almost all of the villages she had ever heard of. Things were getting a little hectic as the security team darted around, trying to get everyone's name and mark them off of their lists. As teams were checked in, they wandered off in various directions, intent on exploring every corner of Konoha. Finally things settled down and there were only a few teams left approaching the gate. As the last team entered, I caught sight of a head covered in fiery red hair. The symbol on his forehead protector was as clear to me as all of the other ones had been.

_Gaara._

It had been about seven years since I'd met him. He didn't seem to have changed a lot, except for getting older of course, but I still hadn't talked to him. There were two other people with him. A blonde girl with four pigtails sticking out and what seemed to be a fan on her back and a boy with a purple design painted on his face and something wrapped in cloth on his back. Garra was carrying a large gourd but I couldn't tell what its contents were. They finished checking in and headed farther into the village. I followed some distance behind them, staying on the rooftops. I wasn't entirely sure that the shinobi below me actually was Gaara, though the chances of him being someone else were slim. Still, the only way to find out was to speak to him so I climbed down into the street and placed myself in the group's path.

I could see the boy's face now and any doubts I had vanished. Those same piercing blue eyes glared at me as I stood in his way but that didn't scare me.

"Gaara?"

No response.

"Do you remember me Gaara?"

He was silent, thinking for a while before answering, "No."

Hurt filled me, spreading through my chest and making me feel sick. Of course he didn't remember me. It had been seven years. Gazing at his head, I saw that the Kanji for love was written there. Maybe he didn't remember me but at least he hadn't forgotten the love I had given him. I flushed slightly as I remembered the time I had painted the word on his head. It had seemed innocent enough when I was a child, but now…

**Gaara POV **

"Do you remember me Gaara?"

Of course I remembered her. Kasami, the little girl who had played with him and given him her love. How could I forget? That day had meant everything to me and every day since I had painted her love onto my head. The memory was what had kept me from going completely insane when I'd been surrounded by hatred. I wondered if she still felt the same way about me.

_Of course she doesn't. She was an ignorant child back then. If she knew just how much of a monster you are, she would hate you just like everyone else. _Shukaku's voice echoed in my head.

He was right. She probably hadn't really understood what she was saying then. She hadn't truly understood just how much of a monster I was. But she was older now and if she knew just how dangerous I am, she would hate me too. I was sure of it.

"No." I told her. A hurt look crossed her face but I didn't let it affect me. I wasn't going to let her in only to get hurt when she eventually renounced my friendship.

When she didn't step out of the way, I roughly pushed her to the side and continued on my way, Temari and Konkuro following close behind. Kasami didn't stop me, didn't protest, she just lowered her head and let me pass. Seeing her like that made me feel…something. I wasn't sure what and the uncertainty annoyed me.

_You can always kill her. Then those disgusting feelings would go away. I'm sure of it. Come, spilling her blood will make you feel better. _

It was a tempting thought. I knew that Shukaku thirsted for blood and I wanted to make these feelings go away. Killing her would benefit both of us. But it would have to wait for now.

**Kasami POV**

My arm hurt. Gaara had shoved me aside and left without another word. I hadn't tried to stop him. There was no point. I couldn't force him to remember. Sad and defeated, I rubbed the bruise that was starting to form and headed home. Naomi was still asleep so I didn't disturb her. Instead I stepped out into our backyard to train. Normally I'd go to the Academy to train but right now I wanted to be alone. Even though I hadn't graduated, Naomi had begun teaching me some of the techniques used by our clan.

I speed through a series of hand signs. "Lightning style, Dragon's Dance." I released my chakra and it formed two small dragons made of sparking white electricity. They stared at me, awaiting instructions. I directed them toward a nearby tree and they sped off, weaving in out and around each other in something that really did resemble a dance. When they hit the tree, it disintegrated completely. The only thing left was a charred patch of grass. I directed them to the next target and the three of us spent the afternoon decimating the entire yard. I was sunset by the time I had nearly exhausted my chakra, so I quit and went back inside. Naomi was up and making dinner.

"You should have woken me up Kasami. I was asleep the entire day."

I smiled weakly, "You needed a good rest. Nothing went wrong."

"How many teams arrived today?"

"A lot. And there are many more arriving tomorrow." I hesitated before continuing. "The team from the sand village came. Gaara was with them."

Naomi put down the knife she was using. "Does he remember you?"

"No, but he remembers something I did for him." I replied vaguely. "I guess it isn't easy to remember someone you met seven years ago. Maybe it's for the best."

"So you're giving up on him?"

Her words stung, but she had a point. He didn't remember me but there was no reason I couldn't still be his friend. "No, I'm not. Thanks Naomi."

She finished dinner and we ate together for the first time in a while. Afterwards, I helped her clean up and, still exhausted, she went back to bed. I climbed up to the roof to look at the stars that dotted the now deep blue sky.

**Gaara's POV**

Shukaku was restless. We had been watching Kasami train for a few hours now. _Why not kill her now? No one is around to see._

But I wanted to wait until night. And Shukaku had reluctantly agreed when I promised that I would kill her slowly. I didn't have to wait much longer. She had used up most of her chakra maintaining the two dragons. But now she was tired and went inside. She had dinner with her sister and then climbed onto her roof and was currently staring absently at the sky.

I jumped down from the tree I was perched in and made my way towards her. She hadn't seemed to notice me but when I was on the roof she called out to me.

"Hello Gaara."

I didn't reply, only began pulling sand from my gourd and sending it slowly toward her. She turned around and gazed at me, unconcerned about the approaching sand. She wasn't afraid and that infuriated me. Snarling, I wrapped the sand around her small body, leaving only her head exposed. Still no fear. Shukaku was getting angry now. He loved to see the fear in a victim's eyes as I squeezed the life out o them. I loved it to, but Kasami's eyes showed only curiosity.

I tried to apply some pressure with the sand and was shocked when it didn't begin squeezing her. It remained lightly wrapped around her as if hugging her. Then, without any command from me, the sand began to bring her closer. When she was just a few feet from me, she was released, though the sand still hovered around her body as if it wanted to keep her there. I was confused. Once again I tried to kill her but the sand did not obey. Even more enraged, my own hand darted out to grab at her throat but as it had done or me countless times, the sand rushed to her defense, forming a barrier around her and preventing me from grabbing her. I tried again and again but I couldn't get through. Finally I gave up, screaming in frustration, I ran. The sand barrier crumbled from around her and reentered the gourd as I hopped off the roof and headed toward the hotel I was staying in with my siblings.

**Kasami POV**

What had just happened? Had Gaara tried to kill me? I had sensed him coming up behind me and for a moment I had been elated, thinking that maybe he had remembered me. His sand had wrapped around me and for a split second I was afraid, but it felt almost like an embrace. It was comforting and I couldn't figure out what was going through Gaara's head. He had pulled me closer to him and released me. He had seemed confused and angry. I had been about to ask him what was wrong when he had tried to strangle me. He would have succeeded only his own sand came to my rescue. Did the sand have a mind of its own? I was trying to wrap my head around this when Gaara darted off the roof and into the darkness. I was left alone with my confusion. Deciding that whatever the problem was, we could discuss it tomorrow, I hoped to the ground, minding my legs, and headed in to go to sleep.

As I lay on my side, drifting slowly into sleep's warm embrace, I noticed the picture that had been sitting on my dresser for a year. It might have just been a shadow cast from the moonlight shining through my window, but it seemed like darkness was creeping in from the edges of the painting, slowly making its way toward the two children holding hands in the middle.

**There you have it. Hope you enjoyed. More on the Chunin Exams later. Thanks for reading.**


	4. The Chunin Exams, Part 2: Cookies

**Okay, Chapter 4 is here. Part 2 of the Chunin Exams. I had to watch the anime again to make sure I didn't miss anything. But I still might have so if you see any mistakes let me know. I'm also taking suggestions on ways to make story more interesting. If you have Ideas, let me know. If you just want to leave the story to me that's fine too, but my imagination only goes so far by itself so suggestions would help. **

**I do not own Naruto but Kasami and the Ryuu clan are my own creation. And with that, please enjoy Loved, Chapter 4.**

**Kasami POV**

When I woke the next morning, I wasn't sure if what had happened with Gaara last night had been real. Had he really tried to kill me? It hadn't seemed like it at first but he had tried to grab my neck. His sand protected me, though I don't know why. Maybe Shukaku was the one that tried to murder me. I knew about Gaara's power and about the monsters that lived inside both him and Naruto. Naomi had told me about them a few years ago when I'd asked her why people avoided them.

She had told me that when they were just little babies, the monsters, tailed beasts she had called them, were sealed inside them. In that moment, I had been seething with anger. Gaara and Naruto had both had to suffer because of something that they'd had no choice in. Naomi mentioned that there were nine tailed beasts in total and that the nine people who carried these monsters inside them were called jinchuuriki. There were seven people in the world that carried the same burden as my two friends.

Since then, I'd made it my goal to befriend Naruto so that he wouldn't have to endure that loneliness any longer. I had hoped that someone in the sand village would find it in their heart to do the same for Gaara since I couldn't be there for him. He had been with two other people when I saw him yesterday. Maybe they were his friends.

I needed to talk to Gaara and get an explanation for last night. After washing, dressing, and eating, I headed out in search of my red-headed friend. I searched near the school, by the front gate, I even asked about him at the hotel where most of the visitors were staying. He was nowhere to be found. Finally I gave up and decided to do some stealth training.

About a week ago, I had overheard a conversation between Naomi and another Jounin. They were talking about how if I were a little stronger; I'd been very useful on reconnaissance missions. Hearing that gave me hope that maybe I had a future as a ninja after all, though how I would become physically stronger was a mystery. Still, I had worked hard to improve my skills at sneaking around and gathering information. I even went so far as to research my clan's history with dragons.

Apparently, when ninja's in our clan turned 14, they bond with a dragon who becomes their best friend, kind of like Kiba and Akamaru. Different dragons have different skill sets and I wanted to know if a certain type of dragon existed that could help me with reconnaissance. I didn't find much, and when I asked Naomi, she wasn't sure either. Her dragon was Mitsu. She was bigger than me and a deep green color. She had always fascinated me and I had always thoroughly annoyed her. Mitsu's skills were based mainly on combat. When I asked her, she said that there were dragons that were excellent at stealth, but none with it as a main talent. Still, I couldn't wait until I turned 14. Even though I wasn't actually a ninja, I was sure Naomi would still let me pick one.

I headed to the school where the rookie Leaf Genin teams, except Naruto's, were training. It was mostly lit inside the school so I made the signs that would allow me to me visible in shadows but unseen when in the light. My main training exercise involved using whatever stealth jutsu I was practicing and seeing if I can walk around the other genin without them noticing me. Using this technique, I was only noticed by Hinata, and Kiba. I continued to walk among them, dodging them as they attacked each other and the practice dummies. It was a dangerous thing for me to do, but I was getting better at keeping out of their way.

When I had finished, I resumed my search for Gaara. This time I found him. He was with the same two people, the blonde girl and the boy with the hood. Naruto, Sakura, and Sauske, were there as well along with three students from the academy. I only recognized one of the students, the Hokage's grandson.

The female sand ninja was saying something about the Chunin exams. I couldn't quite hear her so I crept closer, activating my invisible light jutsu and remaining on the rooftops. Naruto and his team didn't seem to know anything about the exams. _Hadn't Kakashi Sensei told them that he nominated them yet? _

The genin finished their conversation and parted ways. I considered going down to see Naruto, but Gaara and his friends left so quickly that it was difficult to catch up. They stopped on a deserted street near the hotel. I found a roof near them and watched them. Gaara seemed upset, furious even. He whirled around to face his companions, hissing something to them so low I couldn't hear. Both of them stepped backward, terrified. An urge that I hadn't felt in seven years suddenly surfaced. The urge to run away from Gaara, as far away as possible. But the urge to run to him was there as well.

I didn't get the chance to so either. A fine layer of sand was gathering on my clothing. In a second, it thickened into something like a bed that lifted me of the roof and gently lowered me to the ground in front of Gaara. I released my jutsu so he could see me and stepped of the bed onto solid ground. The sand broke apart, but instead of returning to the gourd, it hovered around me, not completely blocking me from Gaara, but remaining in between us as if it expected him to attack me.

"Hey Gaara! It's me, Kasami. You said you don't remember me but we met when we were kids. I think your sand likes me. Or are you doing that?" I kept my voice light. Gaara was still upset and I wasn't sure how much control he had over Shukaku.

He shook his head to tell me that it wasn't him controlling the sand.

"So it can move on its own?"

A nod.

"Gaara, I wanted to talk to you about last night, when you tried to grab me."

His eyed narrowed and behind him, a surprised and disapproving look crossed the blonde girl's face. "Gaara, you know Sensei doesn't want us wandering around alone. What if…"

Gaara fixed her with a glare that, if looks could kill, would have made her die a thousand deaths. They definitely weren't friends.

"Temari, I suggest you shut up before I decide to kill you."

The urge to run increased, but I held my ground and Gaara turned back to me. "I don't have the time to deal with you right now. Get out of my way."

Any fear in me vanished when he said that to me and I snapped at him, "Or what? You can't kill me remember? You already tried."

Oh yes, he was so going to kill me. I was probably going to die on that deserted street. But it was too late to go back so I continued.

"You came to my house last night and I think that you tried to kill me. You ran away after that without any kind of explanation and now you say that you don't have time to deal with me, as if I'm the one that did something wrong. I need to understand Gaara. And I won't leave you alone until you explain yourself."

He just glared at me, not saying anything. Then he slowly reached into a pouch attached to his hip. When he pulled his hand out, he was holding two chocolate chip cookies.

**Gaara's POV**

Kasami was shouting at me. I wasn't really listening. I was interested in learning more about her; why I couldn't kill her, why my own sand was protecting her, but right now I didn't want to talk to her. I reached into the pouch that I always carried cookies in. I had loved chocolate chip cookies since I was little. Whenever my uncle needed to get rid of me he always gave me a cookie. It always worked. That tactic probably wouldn't work on Kasami seeing that she was 13 years old. But at this point in time, I wasn't sure how to handle her. She didn't seem afraid of me and the sand wouldn't let me hurt her.

She stared at me like I was crazy when I held the cookie out to her. "Gaara, I'm serious. I need to know what happened. This isn't the time for sweets."

Of course it didn't work.

_Tell her that you'll talk to her later tonight. Then we'll have another chance to try and kill her. I want to crush her; hear her scream. I want her blood._

"Consider the cookie a peace offering. I'll come by your house tonight. We can talk then."

She takes the cookie, still unsure and I go to step around her but she grabs my arm.

"Gaara, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

"They aren't my friends. Kankuro is my brother, Temari is my sister." I yank my arm away and head toward the hotel, taking a bite out of my own cookie as I went. The exams were in two weeks and I needed to be prepared for the events to come.

**Later that night**

As I approached Kasami's home, I saw her standing on the roof, looking up at the sky just like the night before. And just like before, she didn't acknowledge my presence until I was on the roof behind her.

"I'm glad you came."

_I'm glad YOU came_

In my head, I told Shukaku to keep quiet.

_How can I? I can smell her blood. We'll kill her this time._

Kasami was staring at me and it took me a minute to realize that she must have said something. When I asked her to repeat herself she scowled.

"Pay attention Gaara. I asked you why you came here last night.

"I came to see you."

"You mean you came to kill me?"

I nod.

She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Why?"

"You make me feel."

This confused her, "Feel what?"

"I don't know."

She sighed, then quickly stepped toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

_Now's your chance. KILL HER!_

I didn't. Instead I tentatively lifted my own arms and rested my hands on her waist. Not exactly hugging her back but not pushing her away either. That feeling inside me grew and I felt the need to hold her tighter. I did push her away then.

"Gaara?"

"Kasami…I…need to go."

She looked sad and I wanted to hug her again, but the fact that I wanted to hold her scared me. I didn't wait for a reply, but jumped down from the roof and walked off.

**Kasami POV.**

**Earlier that day**

I stared at the cookie in my hand. Chocolate chip. Why he had given it to me, I had no idea.

"Consider the cookie a peace offering. I'll come by your house tonight. We can talk then." That's what he had said.

I was cautious though. I was positive that he had, in fact, tried to kill me last night. Maybe the cookie was poisoned. He'd eaten one from the same bag but if he had known which was the poisoned one…

And what had he meant by peace offering? Was he trying to apologize for trying to kill me? I so, the cookie wouldn't be poisoned. What if he was trying to trick me? I placed the cookie into my own snack pouch and went home.

**After the meeting with Gaara.**

He ran again. I watched his retreating form and wondered if he was afraid of me. He had said that I made him feel something. Friendship? Something more? I had always thought of him as a friend. Either way, he was trying to escape from whatever he felt for me. I couldn't let him.

**Two weeks later.**

Today was the first day of the Chunin exams. I sat on the swing outside the school, watching an ocean of Genin push their way through the doors. They had to turn in their forms in order to take the exam. My eyes scanned all of the faces but I couldn't find the one I was looking for. I guess I really didn't need to. When he was close enough, his sand would find me.

I didn't have to wait long before a stream of sand wound around my waist and pulled me into the crowd. I wove my way through the mass of bodies until I saw him. When I did, I ran up to him and before he could react, I threw my arms around him, hugging him tight like I had before. He hadn't expected the sudden contact and for a moment, he froze. Soon enough he recovered and tried to push me away but I held on tighter.

"What do you want Kasami?" His cold tone didn't faze me.

"I just wanted to wish you luck." I pulled back a little and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then released him and ran off. That should have given him something to think about.

I found Naruto and Hinata and wished them luck as well then found my way back to the swing. A few minutes later, only three or four teams were still outside.

"The first examiner is Ibiki Morino." Naomi appeared beside me.

"Who is he?"

"He is the leader of Konoha's torture and interrogation squad. His specialty lies in getting inside a person's head and bringing their weakness to the surface."

"So a lot of the Genin are screwed?"

She laughed. "Put bluntly, yes. Though there seems to be a lot of good candidates this time."

"What does the first exam consist of?"

"I think Ibiki mentioned a written test."

That worried me. "Naruto isn't good at written tests."

Naomi laughed again, "Naruto isn't good at any tests."

I scowled at her. "He has more potential than most people think but no one ever gives him a chance. They avoid him or laugh at him instead of helping him. The only thing that keeps him going is the thought of being accepted by the whole village. I believe that he will become the Hokage someday. I believe in him. This test may give him some trouble but don't you dare count him out yet."

**Naruto's POV**

_Oh Crap! I'm screwed!_

**Kasami's POV**

Naomi apologized before heading off, claiming she had a meeting to attend. I chose to go home. There wasn't really a point to hanging around the school. I silently wished my friends luck once more before leaving.

Something was wrong with the painting. It was light in my room but the shadows that had appeared around the edges hadn't receded. I'd tried wiping it off, in case it was dirt or something that had gotten on it. When that hadn't worked I had painted over it but the shadows still showed through. Giving up, I placed it back in its spot on my dresser.

As I gazed at it, I could have sworn the shadows crept a little closer toward the center.

**There it is. Please review. Again any suggestions are welcome! Thanks for reading. **


	5. The Chunin Exams, Part 3: Raining Blood

**Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I was super busy but I finally got it done. Hope you enjoy. Reviews and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.**

**Kasami's POV**

They had all passed. Naruto, Hinata and the rest of Konoha's Genin all passed the first test, as did Gaara and his siblings. But this wasn't the time to celebrate. The second exam was starting today. Anko was in charge of this test. She had all of the remaining participants meet her outside the gates surrounding the 44th training area, also known as the Forrest of Death. All of the Genin had to sign forms so that Anko wouldn't be blamed if anyone died.

I was perched in a tree just inside the fence surrounding the area. From here, I could see everyone as they talked with their teammates and read through the forms. It was incredible how each of them reacted differently to the realization that they could die during the rest of the exam. Some were confidant, some were scared, and a few showed no emotion at all. I was worried about Hinata. I knew that she would do her best to help her team retrieve their second scroll and make it to the tower, but there were some teams here that would definitely be too tough for her to face in her current state. Still, she had chosen to take this exam along with Kiba and Shino in the hopes that she could become stronger. I believed in her.

Naruto would be fine. He wasn't the brightest ninja in Konoha but he had guts and he wasn't the type of guy to give up when things got tough. His team would make it through, I was sure of it.

Then there was Gaara. He was strong and like Naruto, he had a monster within him but it didn't seem like he was able to contain it completely. He had tried to kill me; had even admitted to it. Still the thought that he had probably had to endure the same loneliness as Naruto, motivated me to continue to whittle away at his defenses. I'd get through to him, even if it took years, I'd get him to accept me as a friend.

The teams were heading to their starting points now. Each group would be entering the forest from a different gate. Gaara's team was starting at the gate closest to me so I moved away quickly, not wanting his sand to reveal my presence. I found Naruto's gate just as Anko gave the word to start the second exam. He was excited, striding boldly into the forest with Sauske and Sakura. I decided to follow them for a short while. I couldn't help any of the participants in any way or risk disqualifying them, but I was allowed to observe. Of course Naomi wasn't too thrilled about my desire to enter an extremely dangerous training area filled with skilled genin that probably wouldn't hesitate to try to kill me if they found me; but I liked a challenge. Anko had a release form from me as well; just in case.

After a while, Sauske signaled for his team to stop. I landed on a tree near them, waiting.

"I know you're there Kasami." The Uchiha called to me. He had become pretty good at detecting me; which only meant that I needed more practice. I hopped down to where they were resting, minding my legs.

"I'm just here to watch. I can't interfere or help you guys. You three don't need my help anyway. You'll do great."

Sauske smirked. He was pretty confident in himself and his ability to handle whatever was thrown his way. Naruto seemed ready to face any challenge as well and Sakura was scared. She tried her best to hide it, but I could tell she was terrified.

Naruto laughed and clapped a hand against my shoulder. "It's good to know that there is someone in the background cheering us on… oh sorry." He had noticed my grimace when his hand landed on me. That was going to bruise.

Naruto blurted out something about having to relieve himself and ran over to a tree. After taking a beating from Sakura who chastised him about doing such things in front of a lady, he stalked off behind some bushed to do his business. I took my leave then, wishing them all good luck and telling them to take care of themselves.

"Thanks Kasami. You be careful too." Naruto called out to me from wherever he was. I leaped back up into the trees but didn't go too far. I would follow Naruto's group for a little while longer then try to locate Hinata and keep an eye on her.

Things got interesting quickly as I watched them. First, someone ambushed Naruto while he was relieving himself and tried to trick Sauske and Sakura. I noticed the differences almost immediately of course. If I were ever to be of any use as a ninja, I needed to be extremely observant. Luckily Sauske also noticed the mistakes in the imposter's transformation and was able to fight him off. Not long after that battle, a huge gust of wind blew past them, forcing Sauske and Sakura to hide, while blowing Naruto away. I decided to find out where Naruto had wound up.

By the time I found him, He was in the middle of battling a large snake; well, more like jumping around and dodging it. It whipped its tail out at him, snagging him out of the air and winding him up in a tight coil, trapping his arms. My hands clenched into fists, then released; curled again, then relaxed. I forced back the urge to come to his aid. If I helped him, he would be disqualified. This exam wasn't worth his life but if I helped him, he wouldn't be happy about it. I understood his need to prove himself; his need to make the whole village recognize his existence. He couldn't do that if I saved him now. I squeezed my eyes shut as the snake closed its mouth around Naruto, swallowing him whole.

Not knowing what else to do, I ran. I couldn't help Naruto, but I couldn't watch him die either. Knowing him, he would find some way out of that horrible situation, but if he didn't… I shook the thought out of my head and focused on my current goal, finding Hinata. I know I had said that she was stronger than she believed, but she wasn't like Naruto. Maybe if things got tough, she would find a little more strength and be able to push through, but no matter what, I wouldn't let anything happen to her. She was strong, but she could only take so much. Hinata noticed my presence quickly as did her companions but I didn't reveal myself to them. Still, knowing I was there seemed to help Hinata, so I stayed with her for a majority of the second exam.

It didn't take long for them to retrieve the scroll they needed. Most of their time was spent avoiding other teams and making their way toward the tower in the center of the forest. I followed along behind them at a distance. Naruto had survived. I had left Hinata's group for a little while to check whether he had survived being swallowed. When I located them, they were with Ino, Shikamaru and Choji, as well as Neji's group. Lee looked pretty beaten up, as did Sakura; her hair was shorter now, and Sauske… was different. Something about him seemed off thought I wasn't sure what. I did notice a strange marking on his neck that hadn't been there before but other than that he looked the same. It was obvious that something big had happened here and I was relieved that they were all still alive. When I found Hinata again, they were just going to investigate another battle that was going on. Kiba and Akamaru led their team to the location of the match and they hid in the bushes while I perched in a tree nearby.

Gaara was down there with his siblings. Their opponents were the three genin from the Hidden Village of Rain. Like Sauske, something seemed off about Gaara. The need to run that I always felt around him, steadily increased until I became panicked but I held my ground. If Gaara turned on Hinata's group, I wanted to be there to try and help. He would definitely kill them, like he would have killed me.

Suddenly, one of the rain ninja attacked Gaara. He used umbrellas that concealed thousands of needles that he directed with his chakra. He aimed those needles at Gaara and they flew toward him, causing a huge cloud of dust as they hit. When the cloud settled, there was a wall of sand surrounding Gaara. It had stopped every single needle, leaving him unharmed. The rain ninja, furious at his failed attack, charged toward Garra. He didn't make it far. Gaara's sand met him halfway, wrapping around his leg and crawling up and around his body until all but his face was covered. Gaara lifted his hostage into the air, glaring at him. Time stood still as everyone's eyes stayed glued to the figure now floating helplessly in a coffin of sand. Then Garra uttered two words, "Sand Burial".

I heard nothing but the sounds of bones snapping under pressure, as the sand crushed its victim. Blood seeped out and splattered over the ground. Slowly the sand sank back to the ground. There was no sign of the ninja who had been trapped moments ago. He had been completely destroyed. His teammates were terrified. They handed over their scroll willingly, begging for their lives. But in that moment I realized that no matter what they did, Gaara would kill them. I was right. Snakes of sand shot out toward the two rain ninja and they scrambled to get away. Without thinking, I jumped down from my hiding stop and put myself between Gaara and his prey. He glared at me, but it wasn't the same look as before. There was something cruel in that gaze and it sent a chill down my spine and made my knees weak.

"Gaara, they gave you their scroll. They aren't a threat to you anymore. There's no need to kill them." My voice shook slightly. He hadn't been able to kill me before, but I had no idea if he would be able to now. Apparently he was thinking the same thing because the sand started coming toward me. It wrapped around me just like it had the first time he had tried to kill me. I tried to keep calm, to keep the fear from showing. If it turned out that he could kill me now then this was it. I would die here in the 44th training area. I would die in front of Hinata. I would die before I was ready to.

I waited, for pain, for death, but nothing happened. The sand stayed wrapped around me, but just like before, it felt more like an embrace. Gaara's glare intensified; he still couldn't kill me. I sighed with relief as the sand around me fell. But my red-headed friend wasn't finished with me yet. To my utter dismay, the two rain ninja had been paralyzed with fear and hadn't taken the opportunity to run. Gaara kept one tendril of sand around my waist, while two others shot out and grabbed the men behind me. He brought them close to me, one on either side. I could see them. I could hear them scream and beg him to stop, beg me to help them. But I couldn't tear my eyes away from Gaara's. He was smirking at me, that cruel gaze locked on mine. In the corners of my vision, I could see the sand, covering the bodies of the people beside me. He crushed them, but it was slower than when he had killed the first ninja. As the sand compressed them, I could hear them breaking. Their screams echoed in my head and all I could see were those cold blue eyes staring right back at me. I felt something warm, splatter across my face. Blood. Tears welled up in my eyes as the pained cries died away and the string of sand restraining me fell to the ground. I collapsed onto my knees, finally tearing my gaze away from Gaara only to fix them on the blood soaked ground.

The boy with the hood, Kankuro, was talking to Gaara, yelling at him, but I didn't care why. I was petrified, horrified at what I had just witnessed. When I finally had the courage to glance up at Gaara, my heart nearly stopped. He was holding his arm out, directing his sand toward the bushes where Hinata was hiding with her team. I tried to move, tried to speak but I couldn't. I could only watch as the sand crept closer and closer.

"Gaara!" His sister shouted at him. It was a plea. He looked at her for a moment before summoning his sand back into his gourd. He began walking in my direction, and I flinched away from him, but he simply passed me and disappeared into the forest. Temari glanced at me briefly with a looked that seemed to hold pity, and then she and Kankuro followed their brother.

When they were gone, Hinata ran out to me. "Kasami, are you alright?"

I couldn't answer her. I still couldn't speak, or move. Even though he was gone now, that coldness kept me on my knees. This wasn't the Gaara that I had seen before. Something had changed and I just knew that something had to do with Shukaku. Kiba helped me up and half carried me all the way to the tower.

When we got there, the sand genin had already arrived. I felt Gaara's gaze on me as I passed him, being careful not to look in his direction. Just before we moved on to the next room, I risked a quick glance at him. As I had guessed, he was staring at me, and the look in his eyes held a promise that chilled me to the bone.

Maybe he couldn't kill me, but he could definitely kill everyone else.

**Ok so hopefully that wasn't too bad. Once again it would be awesome if you readers could review and tell me what you think so far.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. The Chunin Exams, Part 4: The Lotus

**Ok wonderful readers, sooooo sorry that I was gone for so long. As I said in the Author's note, things got really hectic at home and I couldn't get any work done for the longest time. But hopefully all that crazyness is done and I will be able to keep posting regularly. So please enjoy chapter six!**

**Kasami's POV**

The second test was over now. Seven teams had passed and were now lined up in a large room. The Hokage and, and a number of Jounin, including the teams' instructors, were present as well. They were going over the rules to the preliminary matches that would be held before the third exam began.

I was up on one of the platforms overlooking the room. Below me I could see Naruto's group. They looked no different from the last time I saw them. Sakura had cut her hair, Sauske had a weird mark on his neck, and Naruto was… Naruto. The knucklehead ninja noticed me watching him and gave me a quick wave. He was proud of himself for making it through the last exam but he knew that there was still more to come. I waved back, smiling until I noticed the other genin that was watching me; glaring at me.

The memory of the Gaara I had faced in the forest made me shiver with fear. The way he had looked at me; hatred and cruelty the things she saw in those cold blue eyes. Still, that wasn't him right? He must have been influenced by Shukaku. I wasn't sure exactly how things worked between jinchuuriki and the monsters sealed within them but the little boy she had known so long ago couldn't have become so…so evil without Shukaku's help.

Gaara turned his attention back to Hayate, the examiner overseeing the preliminary matches. He had just instructed everyone besides the first two combatants, Sauske and another leaf genin named Yoroi Akado. I met Hinata as she came up. I could tell she was worried and so was I. I knew she had potential, but I still didn't want her to get hurt and a lot of the genin here looked pretty tough. I took a deep breath to calm myself and patted her shoulder. She would be fine; as long as she wasn't paired with any of the sound ninja, Neji… or Gaara. _Anyone but Gaara. _His siblings seemed decent enough to me; at least decent enough not to try and kill Hinata, but Gaara would. Even now he was watching as I comforted my friend and that wicked look in his eyes chilled me to the bone. I tried not to think about what would happen and focused on the fight going on below me.

Sauske seemed to be in trouble. It seemed that Yoroi's main ability was draining an opponent's chakra and it was making it difficult for Sauske to fight. He managed though, kicking Yoroi away from him then continuing to copy a move I had never seen him use before that he called 'Lion Combo'. He won his match with that move but something was wrong. Sauske didn't seem to be injured; at least not seriously, but Kakashi had gone down to him and was escorting him out of the arena. I glanced questioningly at Naruto and Sakura. Naruto just shrugged, not sure what was going on either, but Sakura didn't respond at all, she just seemed worried. I left a mental note for myself to question Kakashi later. He probably wouldn't tell me anything but it was worth a shot. I pushed the incident to the back of my mind and returned to observing the matches.

Six more matches have passed. Naruto just won his. I had to admit that his skills had improved greatly though, like all of the Genin here, he still had a long way to go. His battle with Kiba had definitely been an interesting one but I had known all along that Naruto would win. He had a dream to protect and he couldn't lose here. Despite being happy for his victory, I was terrified for Hinata. The only people left for her to fight were Rock Lee, Neji, one of the Sound ninja, Choji, and Gaara. I didn't know what I would do if she got paired with anyone but Lee and Choji. From what I had seen and heard of Lee, he wouldn't hurt Hinata too seriously and neither would Choji, but the other three would be merciless. I watched anxiously as the computer screen on the wall shuffled through the remaining names to pick the next match.

_Neji Hyuga vs Hinata Hyuga. _

My heart almost stopped. An optimist would say that at least she wasn't facing Gaara but to me things were looking bad. I forced myself to smile at Hinata but as she passed me, I caught her arm.

"Please don't push yourself. You and Neji aren't exactly friends."

She gave a shaky laugh. "It…it will be fine Kasami. Watching Naruto's fight…inspired me. I'll give it my best shot."

She pulled my hand off her arm and gave it a squeeze before releasing it and continuing down to the stage. As the match began, I gripped the railing, desperately hoping that she would be ok.

"If you match up with him, beat him to a pulp Naruto; for Hinata." I wasn't usually very aggressive toward my own comrades but the way Neji had treated Hinata made my blood boil. He had knocked her down, physically and mentally attacked her. He had tried to KILL her! His own cousin! I understood how he felt about the head family, but Hinata had never done anything to him and it wasn't fair to take out all his pent up feelings on her. Four Jounin had stepped in to keep him from killing Hinata, but he had still done some serious damage. As the medics carried her away, I had to fight from jumping down and trying to kill Neji. As long as I kept my distance so he couldn't break anything, I would have been ok.

The only things that pulled my mind off of Hinata were the two names that showed up on the computer next.

_Gaara vs Rock Lee_

Everything froze. I could hear my heart beating louder and louder, until it drowned out any other noise. My eyes flicked to Gaara, catching the tiniest smirk on his face before he disappeared in a whirlwind of sand, reappearing a moment later on the ground floor. Slowly sound came back to me and I could hear Lee, shouting something about not wanting to be last and tricking the computer. I could hear Guy Sensei telling his pupil that something was suspicious about Gaara's gourd; as if that weren't obvious from the start.

Lee was excited to begin his match and quickly joined Gaara. Hayate began the match and moved to a safe distance. Lee took a breath, and then commenced his attack. He sped around Gaara throwing punches and kicking out at him, but Gaara's sand had poured out of the gourd and was protecting him just like it had in the Forest of Death. Lee couldn't stand a chance; he wasn't fast enough. Gaara attacked him with waves of sand, but Lee dodged, jumping out of the way and landing on top of the large sculpture on the far side of the room.

Guy called out to his student, giving him permission to remove the weights Lee wore around his legs. Everyone including myself watched as Lee dropped the weights to the ground where they landed heavily, cracking the cement floor. Suddenly, Lee vanished, reappearing next to Gaara and aiming a punch for his head. The sand was able to block, but just barely. Lee was moving too fast for me to see and too fast for the sand to catch up so it wasn't long before he finally landed a hit, kicking Gaara in the top of the head. Lee darted around some more before throwing a punch that connected with Gaara's cheek, sending him flying backward.

As Gaara pulled himself back onto his feet, I could see something on his face; a crack. Pieces of his face began crumbling, turning to dust as they fell to the ground. Not only did Gaara have the sand in the gourd to protect him, he had a layer of sand coating his skin as well.

I watched him as he repaired his armor. His expression was frightening; an evil grin accented by murderous eyes. Gaara was becoming more and more unstable and there was nothing I could do right now but watch.

The fight was beginning again. Lee knew that he had to finish this match quickly so he began unwinding the bandages from around his arms. When he finished, he dashed at Gaara, darting around the sand shield and kicking him up into the air. When they were high enough I noticed that particles of sand were floating in a cloud around Gaara. He was doing something but I couldn't quite see what it was. Lee wrapped the loosed bandages around Gaara and proceeded to spin him around as they descended, slamming him into the floor.

For a moment, it seemed like Lee had done it. Gaara was completely still, his eyes wide. For a moment, I thought he was dead, and my heart ached for the monster that, for some reason, I still wanted to call my friend. After a minute, Gaara's sand armor began to crack and fall away revealing…nothing. Lee had used the lotus on an empty shell. Gaara appeared behind Lee, looking completely unharmed. The next round of attacks was brutal. Gaara kept sending his sand at Lee, tossing him around like a doll. Using the Lotus had taken quite a toll on Lee's body and he wasn't fast enough to dodge the attacks. But he still had one more move to try; The Primary Lotus.

I could hear Guy Sensei explaining the Lotus to Sakura and I didn't like what he had to say. I wanted Lee to win; because he deserved it but as selfish as it seemed, I wanted him to win for me as well. We were kind of the same, in a way. No one believed in us because we were lacking in certain skills, but if he won, he would be proving to everyone that even without Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, he could be a great ninja. Maybe that would make people see me differently as well. But these exams weren't worth his life. Even if he failed here, he would live to fight another day. But if he finished the battle with Gaara and used the Primary Lotus, there was no way for him to come out of this alright.

But I had no right to tell him to stop. This was his fight and he didn't know me. He was strong enough to have graduated from the academy and enter the Chunin exams while I was stuck on the sidelines. Who was I to stand in his way? Lee began to prepare for the Lotus, opening up the chakra control gates inside his body. When he had opened four gates, he began. He kicked Gaara up into the air like before, only this time he continued to attack him from all sides and wearing down the sand armor. Eventually Lee kicked Gaara with such force that he rocketed toward the ground faster than I could see. The floor shattered, chunks of concrete flying everywhere. The resulting cloud of dust enveloped everything and everyone was quiet as we waited for the dust to settle. When it did, my heart sank. The gourd on Gaara's back had turned into sand and kept him from hitting the ground. Lee was on his back, completely exhausted and unable to move. Gaara held his hand out toward Lee and the sand crept toward him, wrapping around his left arm and leg. Gaara spoke; just two words, but those two words would give me nightmares for years to come.

"Sand Burial."

Lee screamed as his limbs were crushed; not to the point of nonexistence, like the shinobi in the forest, but the bones in his arm and leg were definitely shattered. Lee passed out from the pain and Gaara sent out one last wave of sand to finish him off, but it was deflected by Guy Sensei, who had jumped down from the balcony to protect Lee.

"Why did you help him?" Gaara sounded genuinely confused.

"Because he is an important subordinate I love." Guy answered simply.

That answer didn't seem to satisfy Gaara, but he didn't press the issue. He reached a hand up and touched the symbol painted on his forehead. _Love. _I wasn't entirely sure, but I thought I saw him glance up at me. Lee was taken away and Gaara rejoined his brother and sister. There was only one match left and it was a short one.

The remaining sound ninja won his match against Choji and the Hokage informed all of the winners that the main matches would begin in exactly one month and that, in that month, the combatants should work hard to improve their skills. With that, everyone was dismissed.

I immediately went to the hospital to check on Hinata but I wasn't allowed in, so stepped out of the receptionist's sight and activated my invisible light jutsu. Working my way around the front desk, I took a peek in the hospital's log book to find Hinata's room number. Getting to her was no problem. I had pretty much figured that she would be asleep and I was right, but I just wanted to make sure she was ok. There were all sorts of machines hooked up to her and a good number of needles sticking out from her arms. Seeing her like that made me want to cry, but I held the tears back; they wouldn't help her. Nothing I could do would help her. Waiting was my only option. Her condition was stable and that brought me a little comfort, so I left her in the hands of the doctors.

On my way out, I ran into Kakashi, who so far I hadn't been able to fool with my stealth skills. He didn't rat me out though, just winked and continued on his way. I left the hospital and, not knowing what else to do, I went home.

Naomi wasn't there. I found a note on the kitchen counter.

_Kasami,_

_I've been sent to the Village of the Sand. I have a mission to take care of there, and then I will be escorting the Kazekage back to Konoha, so I'll be gone for about a month. I left this in case I don't see you before I leave. I didn't like letting you go into that forest alone but I know how stubborn you can be sometimes. Please take care of the house until I get back. And Kasami, I know I have told you before but please be careful around Gaara. I'm sure you know by now that even though he and Naruto are similar, there are many ways in which they are different. Gaara can potentially become unstable and if that happens, it won't be safe around him. I can't stop you from trying to befriend him, just keep an eye on him._

_Naomi._

_P.S. I like that painting on your dresser. The one of Gaara on the swing. He seems kind of lonely though._

Lonely? I went to my room and examined the painting, expecting to see Gaara on the swing with me standing next to him and a cloud of darkness creeping toward us, but when I looked at it, I was filled with dread. The painting was almost entirely black now. The little boy was alone again, his companion having been swallowed up by the approaching darkness. The girl who was supposed to be protecting him from his demons had been destroyed by them instead.

Wasn't there anything I could do?

**As always, reviews are great. It helps a lot to know that there are people who want me to continue writing. Also suggestions are welcome as well. I am here to improve my writing so if you find something wrong, let me know. Thanks!**


	7. The Chunin Exams, Part 5: For My Friends

**Ok here it is. SO SORRY for the long wait. Like I said in the author's note I might be taking longer to post chapters. Not only do I STILL have the previous issues to deal with, but shcool is starting up again next week. I hope all you wonderful readers haven't lost hope. As sort of an apology, I made this chapter longer. This is pretty much the end of the Chunin exams. I skipped most of the final matches because we all already know what happens and if we don't it isn't hard to look up the episodes so sorry if you wanted me to write that part. Anyways...CHAPTER 7!**

* * *

Sauske still hadn't arrived. His match was supposed to happen earlier but he never showed up. The Hokage had decided to postpone his match since it was the fight everyone was here to see. But all of the other matches were finished now. Naruto, to my great delight, defeated Neji, Gaara's brother Kankuro, forfeited his match and Shikamaru…fought really well. There were no more matches and no way to entertain the crowd. If Sauske didn't get here in time, Gaara would win by default.

The proctor was waiting in the middle of the arena gazing at his watch, counting the seconds. Just when Sauske was about to be disqualified, a whirlwind of leaves billowed up in the center of the arena. When it settled, Sauske was standing there next to Kakashi. I rolled my eyes.

"Was the fancy entrance necessary?"

Sakura who was sitting behind me in the stands just bowed her head and sighed.

"At least he made it in time."

It was the fight everyone had been waiting for.

* * *

**Near the end of Sauske and Gaara's battle**

Did he get him? Sauske had used Chidori to try to break through the ball of sand Gaara had cocooned himself in. The entire audience was waiting for some kind of reaction; something to tell them whether or not Chidori had worked. It wasn't long before they got their answer.

Gaara cried out from inside the ball. He was wounded, screaming at the sight of his own blood. Sauske's arm appeared to be stuck inside the ball and he had to use Chidori again to break free. But his arm wasn't the only thing that came out. Some kind of monstrous appendage was latched on to him. He jumped away, breaking the creature's grip and the arm slipped back into the ball of sand. For a moment, nothing happened, then the ball slowly began to crack, falling away to reveal Gaara. His shoulder was bleeding and he had a crazed look in his eyes.

As I watched, a feather drifted into my field of vision. I glanced up to see millions of these feathers cascading down around the entire audience. A weird sensation in the back of my mind immediately alerted me to the fact that someone was using a Genjutsu. I began to feel drowsy and released myself from the jutsu's hold before I fell asleep. All around me people's heads were rolling back, bodies slumping forward, eyes closing. Some of the more experienced ninja had already released the Genjutsu and were searching for the ones who had cast it. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to face Sakura, still seated behind me.

"Kasami, everyone's falling asleep, what should we…"

Before she finished her question, several of the audience members suddenly sprang to life, attacking the leaf ninja that had managed to break free of the Genjutsu. I pushed Sakura's head down as two ninja, sound ninja, jumped over us, heading toward Kakashi and Guy. They were no match for the Copy Cat Ninja or Konoha's Blue Beast and were taken down easily. I got Kakashi's attention and he stepped closer, not looking directly at me.

"Sakura, just stay down for now, it will be easier that way. Kasami, you may have been barred from graduating from the academy but you and I both know that you have more talent than they give you credit for. Why don't you use some of that talent now."

With that he took off, engaging two more sound ninja. Sakura sighed quietly. I knew that Kakashi was keeping her out of the fight because he thought she would be a liability.

"I really am useless aren't I?" Her words were quiet, almost inaudible. I place a hand on her shoulder.

"Not useless. You just need the right teacher."

Before she could reply I disappeared into the light. All around the arena there were battles going on and something was happening up where the Hokage had been sitting. I didn't pay any mind to that though; the Anbu members could handle things up there. I headed toward the closest battle, pulling needles out of the pouch on my leg. Naomi had mostly taught me stealth jutsu but, like the Dragon's Dance, I knew some jutsu for offense.

Staying back a ways, I tossed a few of the needles toward the closest sound ninja, aiming for key points in their body where I would get the best connection to their nervous system. As the needles pierced his skin, I began weaving the necessary hand signs. Strings of chakra shot out from my fingertips, connecting with the tiny sections of the needles still outside the target's body. I began sending electrical signals down those strings, disrupting his nervous system and basically turning him into my puppet.

One benefit of this jutsu was that I could fight opponents without putting myself in too much danger. The other benefit is that my needles also connected me to my target's Chakra Circulatory System allowing me to draw on their chakra and use it for my own techniques. I had been hoping that, once I mastered it, this jutsu would convince the teachers at the academy to let me graduate and become a true ninja.

I began using my new puppet to attack other sound ninja. Keeping up this jutsu along with the invisible light jutsu would drain my chakra quickly so I released the latter and hid in some of the bushes on the arena floor. I then used my Dragon's Dance jutsu and set the twin lightning dragons loose to take out as many enemies as they could.

Gaara and Sauske were still focused on each other but Gaara didn't seem to be doing well. His sand dome had collapsed and he was on his knees, clutching his shoulder. Sauske was about to attack him again when Temari and Kankuro jumped down and stood in his way. Kankuro grabbed Gaara while Temari used her fan to send a gust of wind toward Sauske, distracting him long enough for all three to jump over the stadium wall and disappear into the forest beyond. Sauske cursed when the wind stopped and quickly pursued them.

I longed to follow; to find Gaara and see if he was alright. I also wanted to kill him, for aiding in the plot to destroy my home. But I didn't have time to worry about what I wanted. I had a battle to focus on. When I had pretty much depleted my first puppet's chakra, I switched to a new target, fighting with him and using his chakra to fuel the twin dragons.

Suddenly, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention and I tensed, listening for whatever had caused the sensation. When I heard nothing, I used my own chakra to release a field of electricity around me. Not enough to injure anything that touched it, but enough to allow me to feel anything inside of it. At first there was nothing, but I leapt to the side as four objects, kunai, flew toward be, sticking into the ground where I had been only a moment ago.

I sent one last charge of electricity down my chakra stings to scramble my current puppet's nervous system; making it impossible for him to control his own body, then released the strings to focus on my attacker. She was small, but with a solid build; not someone I would want to get a hold of me. She sneered.

"Look what we have here; a little mouse hiding in the bushes to afraid to fight out in the open."

I backed up to get as much distance between us as possible but she wasn't having that. She followed, taking two steps forward for every step I took back.

"Where are you going? Let's play for a while, ok?"

She darted forward, pulling out a knife and making a swipe at my neck. I jumped back and ducked, narrowly avoiding the kick that follows. Crouched by her other leg, I attempted to sweep it out from under her, but she did a graceful backhand spring, landing and pulling out another kunai. The space she has put between us gave me time to pull another needle out of my bag. It wasn't safe for me to stay in close combat for long. If I could scramble her nervous system like I did with the other ninja that would give me time to get away from her.

She charged again and I dodged around her, trying to shove the needle the back of her neck. But all of her punches and kicks made it difficult. She finally got tired of this game and jumped away from me again; pulling out two bells, like the ones that female sound ninja used in the preliminary matches.

"It's more fun when I can actually cut my opponent," she sighed, "Oh well, I guess I can just immobilize you first." She laughed and took one bell in each hand then flew through a series of hand signs. When she finished, she shook the bells, making them chime lightly.

The world around me stopped and faded into white light. I covered my ears but the sound was already trapped in my head, the ringing getting louder and louder until it dulled all of my other senses. I wasn't sure which way was up. It felt as though I was standing, lying down and hanging from my feet all at the same time. I couldn't see the sound ninja anymore. But I could hear her laughter over the bells. Laughter at my helplessness. I tried to move my arms but they were heavy, sluggish, and they wouldn't obey me. The rest of my body was the same.

Fear gripped my heart as I imagined what my enemy would do to me. Nothing had happened yet, but I was sure that it would be something horrible. She appeared next to me, her position making it seem like I was lying on my back. She gently ran a finger down the side of my face.

"You know, I've always wondered what my victims see when I use this jutsu. What they hear; how they feel. The only thing I do know is how frightened they are. I love it; the look of pure terror in their eyes. You have that look too."

She paused, just watching me for a moment before continuing.

"I'm going to kill you. It'll be quick for me, but for you it'll seem to take forever. I love that too; imagining how much pain you are feeling. It's a shame it's over so quickly. But there are others that I have to kill, so what do you say we get things started."

She pulled out another knife and pressed the tip to my arm. I winced as it broke the skin but she didn't stop there. She pushed the knife deeper and I had to bite back a scream. When she was deep enough, she began to drag the knife, opening up a large gash in my arm. I did scream then. I had seen ninja with worse injuries but this kind of pain was new to me. Fear had banished some of the numbness I had felt but I still couldn't move at all. The pain was excruciating, far more so than I would have thought for just the one cut. I put that out of my mind and tried to focus on regaining movement in my arms and legs.

I could feel my right hand, the one that had been holding the needle, but the tiny stick of metal was missing. Had I dropped it? I examined the Sound ninja closely and sure enough, the needle was sticking into her shoulder. I hadn't even realized I had gotten it into her. It's location wouldn't connect me to her nervous system very well but that didn't matter right now. I still couldn't move my arms so I tried to form a chakra strand like before. It was hard concentrating; the woman was now carving a second gash into my arm; but I pushed forward, weaving the thread bit my bit. When it was long enough, I attached it to the tip of the needle. I didn't have much chakra left but I gathered it up when a shuriken flew past the sound ninja's face and landed next to my head.

She let out a furious shriek, whipping around to face whoever dared to keep her from her fun. In her distraction, the Genjutsu was broken. My surroundings came crashing back down around me; as did the truth of my condition. There were deep cuts down both my arms and one of my legs as well as shallow ones on my face. I began screaming again as pain surged through me. I was vaguely aware that whoever had thrown the shuriken hadn't actually come down to fight the sound ninja. She turned her attention back to me, realizing that her jutsu was no longer effecting me.

"Fine, I'll just kill you."

She raised her knife above her head, preparing to bring it down on me. I glared at her and released the chakra I had gathered, sending a charge across the thread, to the needle and into her body where is surged throughout her, frying her. Her charred form collapsed, the kunai falling harmlessly to the ground. I took in the condition of my own body. Nothing was broken and if I forced the pain down, I could move, but I had already lost a lot of blood and if I got caught in another close range battle, I was as good as dead.

I propped myself up on my elbows and looked around the arena. There were bodies everywhere, of both leaf, sound and sand ninja. Medical teams were spread out trying to help whoever they could. One of the medics appeared beside me.

"Kasami? Kakashi sent me down here to help you. I need you to lie back."

I did as I was told and he went to work healing the gashes on my legs first. He was fast and skilled. The bleeding was stopped quickly and the wounds healed enough that I could continue fighting. The medical ninja double checked that I didn't have any more injuries.

"I think you're good. Lucky I got to you when I did but I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner."

I shook my head, "You saved me. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Kakashi would like you to come up and see him."

I nodded my understanding and he disappeared, going find any other allies who needed medical aid. I headed back up into the stands where Kakashi and Guy were. When I got there, I noticed that Sakura was gone, along with Shikamaru, Shino and Naruto. I asked Kakashi where they went.

"They are chasing after Sauske and Gaara. And a group of sound ninja went after them. I want you to provide back up."

"I'll go with her."

Asuma Sensei appeared beside me.

"Alright then, but I'm also sending a friend of mine with you."

He pulled out a scroll and proceeded to summon a ninja hound, giving her a brief explanation of the mission.

"Shaxi, I sent Pakun ahead with three others. I need you to go with Asuma and Kasami and catch up to them."

"I can do that." Shaxi replied. She looked at me curiously for a moment before howling and heading out, followed closely by Asuma and myself.

* * *

**Gaara's POV**

Shukaku would break free soon. I could feel him banging on my skull; pounding on the inside of my chest. My body was on fire and my head felt like it was about to burst. I was only vaguely aware of what was going on around me. Kankuro was holding me up and we were running through the forest. I didn't care where we were going, just that when we got there I could get the demon inside me to calm down.

Blood. That's what he wants. That's what will pacify him. I could kill Kankuro and Temari. Maybe that would satisfy him for at least a little while. It's not their blood he thirsts for.

_Sauske._

He wants the Uchiha's blood now. She wants it to; Mother. I'll kill him, for her. I'll kill him and pull out his insides and give them to her. I must keep them both satisfied; keep them fed.

We've stopped. The Uchiha had been chasing us and he finally caught up, but I was in no condition to fight. Temari volunteered to stay and fight him. I was confident she wouldn't be able to do much. Her match with the Shadow ninja probably left her with only a small amount of chakra. Kankuro continued to drag me along to whatever destination he had in mind.

As I suspected, my sister failed in her mission to defeat Sauske. No matter though. I wanted to be the one to end his life anyway. Temari took on the task of carrying me while Kankuro stayed behind to fight this time. He didn't fight his match so he still has all of his chakra.

_If he kills my prey…_

The trees were rushing past again. I could feel Temari's fan pressing into my side. It was annoying, but it gave me something to focus on besides the pain in my head.

_Sauske._

He's caught up with us again. If he was able to defeat Kankuro that quickly than he is even more worthy to become my prey. Temari wants to fight him now but I had no interest in such a pointless battle. She is not a suitable opponent for the Uchiha prodigy. There was no longer any need for her. With my target right in front of me her blood wasn't necessary to tame Shukaku. Now she was simply in the way. Still, she might be useful later on. I throw her to the side and focus solely on my prey. He caught up with us, and he's not alone.

That girl. The one Shukaku longed to tear into pieces; the one Mother wishes to protect.

_Kasami._

* * *

**Kasami POV**

It hadn't taken long for us to catch up to the group of sound ninja. It seemed that Shikamaru had stayed behind to hold them off. He couldn't have had that much chakra left but he used what he had to hold their pursuers in place for as long as possible. Asuma had instructed Shaxi and I to continue chasing Naurto, Sakura and Pakun while he helped Shikamaru.

Next we ran into Shino, who was in the middle of a battle with Gaara's brother, Kankuro. We offered our aid but Shino insisted that we go after Sauske and help him instead.

So here we were, standing off against Gaara. Apparently Shaxi wasn't built for fighting so she hid herself while I joined Sauske.

"Great, they sent Little Miss Breakable to help me." Sauske rolled his eyes. "Just stay out of the way. I'll handle this."

I glared at him. "I was asked to help you and that's what I'm going to do. You don't know anything about your opponent; what he really is."

"And what is he?"

Before I could answer, Gaara screamed. The right side of his body was changing; morphing into some beastly form. His arm grew and turned a light brown color with blue markings. His face changed too, turning the same color as his arm and his eye… it had turned black with a yellow iris and a black diamond shaped pupil. My mind barely had time to register his new appearance when he attacked, leaping toward us with incredible speed. Both Sauske and I jumped out of the way just before he brought that monstrous arm down on the branch where we had been.

I hid behind one of the many trees around us, my mind working furiously to come up with a game plan. Gaara was my friend; well, I still wanted to think of him as a friend, even though he frightened me. But he had attacked my village and my friends, he had tried to attack me…I needed to stop him…somehow, but I didn't have much chakra left. Not enough to use Dragon's Dance, but if I could get a few needles into that arm of his, I might be able to immobilize it for a little while. If not than I could serve as a distraction while Sauske came up with a plan.

I stepped out of my hiding spot, grabbing my last few needles from the pouch. Gaara spotted me immediately, staring me down with that disturbing eye. I took a deep breath to calm myself, but that calm was destroyed when he charged at me again. Instead of jumping out of the way, I dodged to the side, just barely getting out of his way, but placing me in the perfect position to try and stab him with a needle. Once it was imbedded, I moved away so he couldn't swipe at me again.

I began weaving a thread of chakra but before I could attach it, the needle began to sink farther into Gaara's arm until it was completely swallowed up. Suddenly the needle shot back out of his arm and toward me. I sidestepped to let it pass by. So I couldn't do anything with the monster arm and the gourd he was carrying would prevent me from getting to the back of his neck so my only other option was his normal arm…which was being protected by the monster one. I would have to play bait until I got close enough to access his normal arm. Hopefully Sauske had some ideas.

I continued dodging around, avoiding Gaara's attacks. I wasn't sure if he could kill me in this form or not but I really didn't want to find out. But Gaara was relentless and it was getting harder and harder to keep out of his path. I jumped out of the way of yet another swing, but I wasn't fast enough. He caught onto my leg and whipped me around. I raised my arms, wrapping them around my head to protect it; and it's a good thing I did because not a second later I was flung into a tree.

I heard rather than felt the bones snap. There was too much adrenaline pumping through my veins for me to feel the pain. I knew better than to try and move though. My arms were broken, maybe in multiple places, and one of my legs was bent at an odd angle that made my stomach lurch. But that was the least of my worries. Gaara landed on the tree branch in front of me.

"I guess I can kill you now. Shukaku will be pleased."

That beastly appendage stretched toward me, snaking around my legs and up my body. He began squeezing only this time it was no embrace. I could feel the pressure on my chest, it wouldn't take much for it to cave in, but Gaara was going slowly enough that it would still take a while. I guess Sauske hadn't come up with any ideas.

The sand was up around my neck now, pressing hard against my wind pipe. I was getting less and less oxygen and my vision was becoming hazy. Maybe I would pass out before he killed me. Maybe he would just snap my neck and be done with it. No. He wanted me to suffer; wanted me to…

I could hear chirping. Birds, far away chirping wildly. The sound grated on my ear drums but in a way it was strangely comforting. In my fogginess, the adrenaline that had been present before drained away and I began to feel the pain of my injuries. It was a familiar pain. One I had gotten used to as a child. I focused on that pain and on the birds, using them to push my way past the haze. The pressure from the sand had lessened, no, it had gone completely. I switched my focus to breathing; taking in as much oxygen as I could. Slowly the world around me became clear again.

Gaara was laughing. His arms had switched; his right arm normal again and his left one transformed. He now had a tail as well and was using it to fling himself at Sauske who countered his attack using Chidori.

At first I was elated. Sauske hadn't just let me die and Chidori seemed to do some damage to Gaara's demon appendages. But when the Uchiha landed near me, I saw strange markings all across his arm and face. I'm not sure why but seeing them sent chills down my spine. Whatever they were, they were not helping Sauske. His body gave out and he collapsed. Gaara took this opportunity to try and pulverize him.

I drew in a breath to call out to him, and winced at a sharp pain in my chest. I'd broken some ribs as well. I tried to move, but with only one good leg, all I managed to do was send pain shooting through my entire body and when it reached my head, I blacked out.

I was out for only a few seconds and I was awake for only a few seconds longer, but in that time my mind registered four things.

One: I was still alive.

Two: Sauske was still alive

Three: Sakura was tending to us both.

Four: Gaara was now facing off against…

"Naruto."

**I hope that this was at least sort of worth the wait. If not, again I'm really sorry. As always I'm looking for suggestions, good or bad. I'm here to improve my writing and feedback is an important part of that. **

**Thanks all of you.**

**T.G. Lollipop**


	8. Suna Summer

**Hey guys, once again so sorry for how long it is taking me to post chapters. I really am trying to find time, it's just hard. Anyways someone requested that I make chapters longer so I will work on that. This one is still about the same length though. **

**Kasami POV**

I'm not sure what woke me. Maybe it was the steady beeping coming from somewhere near me. Maybe it was the feeling that I still had something I needed to do. Maybe it was the pain that was slowly making itself known. Whatever it was I, I was awake now. My eyelids were heavy and I had to fight to slowly peel them open. White light blinded me and I shut them again, squeezing them closed against the offending brightness. I tried to raise an arm to cover my face but both of them were restrained in casts. Instead I simply squinted into the light until my eyes adjusted and I could open them fully with no discomfort.

I was in a hospital room, strapped to the bed. My leg had been bandaged as well and I could tell from experience that I'd be on a crutch for a little while. My arms weren't as bad as I thought. From what I could tell, the casts were still on so that I didn't reinjure them in my sleep, as if the straps couldn't hold me still.

I thought back on the events that had led to my injury. I had passed out after Naruto showed up and before that I had been distracting Gaara for Sauske. How long ago was that? As I sorted through my thoughts, a nurse entered the room and began checking all of the monitors.

"Oh good, you're finally awake. Your arms are pretty much healed so I can go ahead and take the casts of for you. However you will need to stay off of your leg for a little longer. You'll also have to stay in the hospital for a few more days so we can keep an eye on you, then you can go home."

"Alright… How long have I been here?"

"A little over five weeks. We were all worried when you didn't wake up sooner. No one could figure out why."

She came over and undid the straps that kept me fastened down, and then began removing the casts from my arms.

"Five weeks? What happened to Gaara? And Naruto? And the Village?"

"Calm down, I'll tell you what I know…"

It took an hour for the nurse to go over what she remembered from Chunin Exams incident. A lot of good people lost their lives including the Hokage. I was heartbroken that I had missed his funeral and I made a mental note bring a flower to his grave. When the nurse finished her story, she gave me my medication for the day.

"Has anyone come to visit me?"

"Oh yes. You've had several visitors. In fact a young lady stopped by just before you woke up. She comes by a few times a day so I'm sure she'll be back later. Your sister also dropped by a couple of times but she's been so busy lately… Oh and that Naruto kid came, and another boy… he left you something. It should be on the table by the bed."

Sure enough there was a note folded up on the table. I grabbed it and gingerly opened it up. There were only two words, written neatly in the center of the page.

_I'm sorry._

I folded the note back up and replaced it on the table. There was only one person I could think of who would have a reason to apologize to me but I couldn't imagine him actually doing it. I'd have to ask him about it. At this point in time, my feelings toward Gaara were unclear. He had almost killed me, but I knew that he wasn't entirely in control of himself. Still I should have been more careful. I needed to see him; to talk to him.

"He's probably back in Suna by now." I whispered to the air.

"What was that?" The nurse paused on her way out the door.

"Oh, nothing. Thank you."

"No problem."

She left me alone with my thoughts. The pain medication she had given me had made me drowsy and my eyelids were already beginning to feel heavy. For a while, I tried to fight it, not wanting to drift back into sleep after already missing five weeks, but it soon proved impossible to break free.

* * *

When I woke up next, Naomi was sleeping in the chair by the bed. There were no restraints holding me down so I moved to sit up. A pair of crutches was resting against the wall near me and I grabbed them and used them to pull myself into a standing position. I hobbled over to my sister and leaned forward, putting my weight on one crutch, to shake her. She woke immediately, her eyes darting around wildly for a moment before settling on me. Her lips curved up into a drowsy smile and she pushed herself out of the chair.

"You're awake. They called me and told me that you were about ready to be picked. They just want to check everything once more. How are you feeling Kasami?"

"I'm ok. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"That's not true." Naomi gripped my shoulders gently, "Before you would just trip and break your arm, or kick something out of frustration and break most of your toes. There was only ever one thing broken at a time. You learned to be careful and the most I had to worry about was you breaking your fingers hitting Naruto. Where has that caution gone? You were fighting Gaara. What he did to you…Kasami; I thought you were going to die. No one here has told you how bad you really were. It wasn't just the bones you'd broken. There was severe internal damage as well."

I considered my sister's words, thinking back on what had happened.

"It's true that I may have been a bit reckless… But what I did, I did to protect the village and to protect my friends. Even if I am weak, and even if there's a good chance that I could get killed, I can't just sit back and let everyone else risk their lives. I will die one day and when I do, I'd prefer to die protecting the things I care about."

Naomi sighed and wrapped her arms around me. "I understand. I just…you're my little sister and Mother and Father entrusted your protection to me. I guess the best way for me to do that is to teach you everything I know about our clan's jutsu. Before I was only teaching you the simplest attacks but that's not enough if you're going to survive with the life you've chosen to lead. I know now that I can't always be around to protect you but I can help you get a companion. Someone who will always be there when you need them."

"Who?"

"I don't know yet. You have to pick them, and they have to pick you."

My eyes widened slowly as realization hit. "A dragon?"

"Yes. You still have to be at least 14 to enter their domain. But I think that with a recommendation from me they will overlook the fact that you aren't an official shinobi."

I wrapped one arm around her, careful not to drop the crutch in the process.

"Thank you Naomi. I'll train really hard with my new companion and I'll become the best unofficial Ninja you've ever seen. I promise."

When the nurse entered the room my sister smiled down at me and peeled me off of her.

"I'm sure you'll be great. Now let the nurse check you out so we can go home."

I nod and hold sit back on the bed so the nurse can examine my legs. When she determined that I was ok to leave, I stood with the help of Naomi and the crutches and hobbled my way out of the hospital.

Naomi and I walked in silence for a while as I puzzled through the situation in my head. I had to speak to Gaara. I was afraid to, but I had to even if it meant traveling to Suna.

"Naomi, would you go with me to the Hidden Sand Village?"

"Kasami, Gaara almost killed you. Why would I let you go to Suna where he could hurt you again?"

"Because I need to see him. I still believe that I can get through to him. I just need more time. He came to visit me in the hospital. He apologized; at least I think he did. Anyway, it would be good to clear the air."

"I could keep you from going but when have I ever stood between you and something you really wanted? I also can't let you go alone, so yes; I'll accompany you."

"Thank you Naomi, for everything."

She grinned and nudged my arm gently.

"No problem. Come on, we have some packing to do."

* * *

**Temari POV: A few days later…**

Not much had happened since the attempt to destroy Konoha. Suna's relationship with the Leaf Village had been difficult to decide upon but our leaders were coming to an agreement. A new Kazekage had yet to be chosen as many people were still unsure as to when the old one had died. I didn't feel much sadness at the news of my father's death. The only way that he was more of a father to Kankuro and I was that he had never tried to have us killed. Other than that, he was the exact opposite of what I would consider the ideal father. I never complained though, not really. Kankuro and I had just learned to care for ourselves after Mother died. Things wouldn't be any different with him dead.

On this particular afternoon, so many weeks after the attack, I was sitting with Kankuro in our living room watching TV when someone knocked on the door. Kankuro paused with his hand half way into a bag of chips, and looked at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes at him and got up to answer it while he resumed his munching.

I undid the single lock and turned the handle, opening the door all the way. I shouldn't have been surprised to see that Kasami girl standing there, looking like the picture of health, except for the cast on her leg and the pair of crutches she was barely leaning on.

"Is Gaara home?"

"Uh… I haven't seen him. He went somewhere this morning and he hasn't come back."

She sighed and hung her head and in that moment I could tell, though she was skilled at hiding it, that she was exhausted.

"Alright, thanks. When he comes back, can you tell him that I'm here? In Suna?"

I nodded quickly and shut the door. That girl must have a death wish to pursue Gaara so intently. I glanced at Kankuro, who had crept up behind me to get a peek at our visitor.

"What did she want?"

"To see Gaara."

His eyes squinted and he opened his mouth as if to speak but no sound came out. Simultaneously, our gazes traveled to the stairs where we know that at the top, down at the end of the hall, our little brother sits in a chair by the window, starring out at the world, maybe not seeing anything.

That's where he has been since we returned from Konoha. Kankuro and I had barely been able to convince him to eat or drink or lay in his bed to sleep. When we did get him out of his room, it wasn't for very long. I thought it had something to do with his fight with that Naruto kid, but that was a while ago and I was afraid that Gaara won't last much longer like this.

I tip-toed up the stairs, turning 180 degrees at the top and continuing down the hall toward Gaara's room. When I reached the door, I pushed against it gently; grateful for once that his was the only door in the house that didn't have squeaky hinges. Just as I had thought, Gaara sat in his wooden chair, leaning forward slightly to rest his forearm on the window sill. The window was open and the Suna summer breeze drifted in, carrying the scents of rosemary and fresh baked sweet rolls. I inhaled deeply, noticing that Gaara did the same. His eyes closed and he continued to breathe in the smell.

I raised my hand to knock on the door with my knuckle.

"Gaara, I was thinking that I'd like some sweet rolls, but I've got a lot o work to do here. Do you think you could go to the bakery and get some?"

He didn't answer, didn't look at me, didn't give any indication that he even knew I was there.

"I can give you the money for them. If you don't want sweet rolls you can buy something else."

He opened his eyes and turned to look at me.

"Kasami was here."

Of course he knew. His room was at the front of the house and his window looked out over the street.

"Yes, she was. I told her you were out"

"Why?"

"I didn't think you wanted visitors. If you want to talk to her, you know where she is staying."

He went back to gazing out the window. I waited for a minute, in case he had anything more to say, but when I heard only the birds outside, I sighed and left, pulling the door shut behind me.

I trudged down the stairs into the living room where Kankuro was once again laid out on the couch. He sat up when I entered.

"How's he doing?"

I reached into the pouch on my hip and pulled out my wallet. I grabbed some money out and tossed it to him before collapsing into an arm chair.

"Get up and go buy some sweet rolls."

* * *

**Gaara POV**

As soon as I saw her I leaned away from the window, hiding like a child trying to escape their parent's scolding. It was a cowardly thing to do but I couldn't talk to her, not yet. She was looking for me. Temari told her that I was gone but as she walked away, I had felt a slight tingling sensation, like fingers running up my spine, barely touching my skin. She had glanced back at my window. I was still out of her line of sight but I got the feeling that she knew I was up here.

When Kasami had gone, Temari had come up to my room to try and get me to go outside. Little did she know that I spent every night outside, sometimes wandering the streets of Suna, sometimes just sitting on the roof and starring at the stars, always trying to understand what Naruto had told me. It had confused me at first, how he could come to love and protect the people who had hated him. But over the past few weeks, I had begun to figure it out.

Naruto hadn't let the village's hatred get to him. He stayed true to himself and eventually one person accepted him. One was all it took. Others came to care for him as well and they gave him strength. But me? I had let the hatred eat away at me and I had buried any desire for acceptance deep within me. I gave myself my own love in the form of a word on my forehead and I didn't think that I needed anyone else. There were people who cared about me; my brother and sister, but I had pushed them away until the only thing they felt toward me was fear.

I was disgusted by myself, my former self. The me who had nurtured the darkness inside and released it on the world. But I'm not that Gaara anymore. I can't be; not now that I know there is another way.

Below me I hear the front door swing open and peeking out the window, I see Kankuro, slinking down the street, grumbling to himself. I stood and stepped up onto the window sill before leaping to the ground outside.

"Kankuro, where are you going?"

He continued walking but glanced back over his shoulder.

"Hey little brother. You do realize you're not in your room anymore?"

I nodded quickly.

"Ok just making sure. Anyway, Temari demanded some sweet rolls and I chose to go and get them rather than deal with a pissed off wind style ninja with a giant fan."

"I'll get them. You can go back inside."

His eyebrows rose ever so slightly and he corrected himself quickly but it was enough for me to notice. I cringed inwardly at the thought that he was so surprised at my offer to help.

"You sure? I mean…if you want to. Thanks."

He handed me some money and headed back toward the house. I began the short walk to the bakery, wondering what Kasami was doing and whether or not she liked sweet rolls as much as Temari.

**So there's chapter 8. Not hinting at anything here but I have noticed that with some authors, the number of comments they get influence how quickly they post new chapters. That's not why I haven't been posting but it might help me to find the extra time. Once again, not hinting at anything here. :-)**


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